FIG. 1 shows a conventional battery connector, generally designated 10, which includes a dielectric housing, generally designated 12, having a plurality of terminal-receiving passages or cavities 14 for receiving a plurality of terminals, generally designated 16, inserted into the passages in the direction of arrow “A”. The passages are separated by interior side walls 18, and each passage terminates in a bottom or base wall 20.
Each terminal 16 of prior art connector 10 includes a contact portion 16a joined to a base portion 16b by a U-shaped spring bend 16c. A plurality of teeth 16d project outwardly from each side edge of base portion 16b for skiving into the side walls of passages 18 to secure the terminals in the passages. When the terminals are fully inserted into passages 14, contact portions 16a of the terminals are exposed above a top mating face 12a of the housing and terminating ends 16e of the terminals are exposed at a bottom face 12b of the housing. The contact portions resiliently or yieldably engage the contacts of a complementary connecting device, and terminating ends 16e of the terminals are connected, as by soldering, to appropriate circuit traces on a printed circuit board. A problem with such connectors as battery connector 10 is that extraneous forces cause the electrical connections between terminating ends 16e of the terminals and the circuit traces on the circuit board to become unstable or even damaged over the service life of the battery connector. The present invention is directed to solving these problems by providing an improved reinforcing system for improving the securement of such connectors to printed circuit boards.